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{
    "id": 1092207,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1092207/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tigania West, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mutunga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13495,
        "legal_name": "John Kanyuithia Mutunga",
        "slug": "john-kanyuithia-mutunga"
    },
    "content": "that will help us reduce the turn-around time. At times, it takes too long for the NHIF to come into effect, especially when there are cases where people have to access treatment outside the country. It takes long. Sometimes, we have heard of cases getting complicated or even people dying before the NHIF can turn around and say: “It is possible for us to support you in so much.” It is important for us to have a cover that is not only available to everybody, universal in terms of coverage, disaggregated in terms of socio-economic status, but also one that is efficient and effective to cover our people and can, therefore, be reliable. We have had cases where people under this cover have not been able to access medical services, especially when they are travelling out of the country. When it comes to the way the cover is supposed to be disaggregated, I hope the Committee has looked into the possibilities of up scaling this particular cover based on the levels of risk that people are exposed to. Levels of risk depend on where one is, what one does and exactly how one does what. In most cases, you realise that people may need this cover. I have an example of those who protect us and sometimes may not even have a cover. As a Member of Parliament, I wanted to go out of my way to buy NHIF coverage using the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) for officers of the National Police Service who serve in my constituency. That is because we had cases of some of them dying in response to exigencies, but their families are so poor that they cannot even bury the dead. We had to consider a way of supporting them through the Youth Fund. We requested the Board. I want to thank the Board of the NG-CDF for accepting this particular request to put those people under the NHIF cover. All I am trying to say is that we may have vulnerable groups who support us and play a very significant role that may not be earning them sufficient resources to confront situations and handle them properly. We have been able to support them in one way or another. When we talk about universal coverage or extending the boundaries, I am happy that this will now cover everyone. I am happy that it will also consider the different socio-economic categories and, therefore, support them with what they need in terms of health coverage. I know most of my colleagues have spoken to the fact that when we go to the constituencies, we are confronted with two major issues. One is school fees for the children who are unable to go to school and the other one is ill health. This has been an issue for quite some time. It has been a major issue for some of us because the economic background, sometimes, determines how we handle some of those issues. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}